Councilmember Harless. Perez
Fox. Here. Paulson. Stauber.
Here. Hansen. Mayor. McEnerny
Ogle present.
>> Thank you.
>> Mayor moved to excuse.
Council member. Paulson. Thank
you.
>> And.
>> And Perez. Thank you, thank
you.
>> Seconded by Hansen. All
those in favor, say aye.
Opposed. Motion passes. Thank
you very much. Councilors. You
have in front of you the
minutes of May 4th. Are there
any corrections? Hansen.
Seconded by Stover. Stover. All
those in favor say aye.
>> Aye.
>> Opposed. Motion passes.
Let's move on to the
proclamations. And we have with
us to start things off. Poppy
days. And so do we have Gloria
with us. Gloria. Hi, hon. Come
sit right up here. Let me read
a little bit of this. Gloria,
you're the past president of
the American Legion, unit 14.
Yay! Whereas the welfare of our
veterans and their dependents
should be a prime concern of
every individual and the
American Legion. Smith Reynolds,
unit 14 will again conduct its
annual poppy days for the
purpose of raising funds for
the rehabilitation of war
veterans and for the welfare of
the families of these veterans.
And whereas we ask our
community to remember the
sacrifice our veterans have
made for America by wearing a
poppy during this time and the
memorial poppy is not only a
tribute to those lost in war,
but it also honors living
veterans and helps with their
rehabilitation. So whereas the
month of May has been set for
distribution of buddy poppies
by the American Legion
Auxiliary unit 14, now
therefore, I and McEnerny Ogle,
Mayor of Vancouver, Washington,
do hereby proclaim the week of
May 11th through 16th, 2026 as
Poppy Days in Vancouver and
further call upon the community
of our city to assist in the
spirit of this worthy program
and to wear a poppy in honor of
our veterans.
>> Thank you. Thibedeau. Yes.
>> Gloria, there is a
microphone in a little face
with a button there. If you
push it on the top of this
microphone, you'll see. Thanks.
Okay. Thank you. Is that good?
Yep.
>> That's perfect. Okay, Madam
mayor, City Council and guests,
the American Legion Auxiliary,
post number 14. Thanks you for
proclaiming. May the Poppy day,
May 15th. And for this year
it's May 16th. And we will be
distributing properties in
various locations on that day.
Actually, in reality, every day
should be Poppy day for the
significance that the poppy
holds in the life of our
country to honor and remember
those who gave their lives so
that we are free to laud their
bravery. Poppy day marks the
beginning of another year,
during which we offer the poppy
to to the hand of a person free
to express appreciation for the
price someone unknown soldier
paid on their behalf for that
freedom. The poppy as a
memorial flower honors those
who died in wars that
challenged our right to freedom.
The use of the poppy can be
traced to a single individual.
Miss Nina Michaels. She was so
moved by the poem of Colonel
McRae, titled In Flanders Field,
that on impulse she bought all
the poppies at New York's
Wanamaker Department store and
handed them out to businessmen
meeting at the YMCA where she
worked. That was in November
1918. Later, she would
spearhead a campaign that
resulted in the adoption of the
poppy as the national symbol of
sacrifice. Here we are over 100
years later, carrying on that
tradition. The Flanders poppy
is a specific strain that grows
in abundance in Flanders Field,
France, atop the graves of
thousands of soldiers who gave
their lives for our freedom. On
designated Poppy day, you will
find us at various locations
throughout the city, offering
you a poppy. These poppies are
handmade by veterans who are
paid for their work. Funds
raised from your generous
donations provide funds for
support of the VA Transplant
Lodge. The VA hospital canteen
and many, many other projects
that are provided for the
servicemen. On May 25th
official Memorial Day, we
invite the public to join post
number 14 at our facility on
Saint John's Boulevard at 11:00
for the laying of the wreath
ceremony honoring our deceased
soldiers. Again, thank you,
Madam Mayor, for your
proclamation.
>> Thank you so very much. And
let's move right into the
Memorial Day at the barracks.
This we have Katie and Ron, Ron
Powers and Katie. Hi. Whereas
the Clark County Veterans War
Memorial serves as a place of
honor for our Clark County
fallen, so we never forget
their sacrifices. And whereas
the Community Military
Appreciation Committee was
created for the purpose of
connecting all veteran advocacy
organizations, public and
private, in and around the
Greater Vancouver, Portland
metropolitan region. And
whereas, the City of Vancouver
has earned the distinction of
being a patriotic community and
takes pride in honoring our
fallen service members at the
annual Memorial Day observance
sponsored by the Community
Military Appreciation Committee
at the Fort Vancouver National
Historic Site, and this year's
observance on May 25th, 2026
will have Marv Sirhan as the
keynote speaker and the
official laying of the wreath
at the Clark County Veterans
War Memorial to honor fallen
soldiers. Thank them for their
commitment to our country and
recall their legacy of
patriotism by giving their
lives to the cause of freedom.
These heroes have protected and
inspired all Americans. Now
therefore, I and McEnerny Ogle,
Mayor of Vancouver, Washington,
do hereby proclaim the 25th in
May as Memorial Day at the
barracks in the city of
Vancouver and call upon the
people of Vancouver to honor
those who have given their
lives for our country and to
show our respect and support
for the people of our Armed
forces.
>> Thank you.
>> Madam Mayor, and members.
>> Of the City Council,
veterans, families and
community members. Thank you so
much. On behalf of the
Community Military Appreciation
Committee, also known as CMac
Kadee. Hauser and I are honored
to accept this Memorial Day
proclamation. Memorial day is
more than just the beginning of
summer. It is a sacred time for
our nation to pause and
remember the men and women of
the United States Armed Forces
who gave their lives in service
to our country. Their sacrifice
reminds us that freedom is
never free. We are grateful to
the City of Vancouver, the
National Park Service, the
Historical Trust for continuing
to recognize the importance of
this day, Memorial Day, and for
standing alongside our veterans,
military families, Gold Star
families, and Blue Star
families. I also want to thank
our many volunteers, community
organizations. Many of them are
represented here tonight.
Sponsors, including our main
sponsor for this event, Waste
Connections and partners who
help make our annual Memorial
Day Remembrance ceremony
possible. This is truly a
community event. We invite
everyone to join us on Memorial
Day as we come together in
remembrance, gratitude, and
unity to honor those who made
the ultimate sacrifice. Our
event is going to be held on
the Fort Vancouver Parade
grounds on Monday, Memorial Day,
May the 25th, beginning at 10
a.m. We absolutely invite the
community to help us recognize
the veterans that had given
their lives and sacrificed, and
I appreciate that we were able
to follow the poppies that
because it's a great connection
between our various
organizations. So thank you,
Mayor Anne, and thank you to
the Council for your continued
support of CMac and our
military community. And I would
like to end it with the
strength of a community is
measured not only how it
celebrates freedom. And of
course, this year is our 250th
birthday of the United States.
But how it remembers those who
sacrificed for it.
>> Thank you, thank you. Ron.
Katie, do you do get the 1000
chips? Because I got the 1000
hot dogs. Okay, for those of
you who may not know, we serve
a luncheon afterwards and we
expect wonderful weather and a
thousand individuals to join us.
But Ron, before you go, we have
a special veteran, many of
those on CVTV and in the room
may not know. Would you
introduce Harry for us, please?
>> Yes, ma'am. I would like to
introduce Mr. Harry Hamilton.
Harry is a World War Two
veteran. He served under Patton
Zone during 1945. In fact,
recently he was in
Czechoslovakia in honor of the
ending of the World War Two.
And he's going to go back again
this year. Also, Harry is now
100 years old. So World War Two
veteran. Thank you. And again,
I would like to do a special
shout out for all the veterans
that are here tonight. Support
of Memorial Day.
>> Thank you so much. And Harry,
I have a copy of your blog,
happy Harry out of the box.com.
And you're writing. You said my
writing has my writing skills
are worse. I don't know, it
looks pretty good.
Congratulations. Thank you for
joining us this evening.
>> I wonder if you would let me
say a couple of words.
>> Please, Harry. Go ahead.
Come on up and have a seat.
>> Please. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
>> Pull that microphone right
down to you. Thank you. Sis.
>> Oh, sorry.
>> Yep.
>> There. Can you hear me?
>> All right, we can. Thank you.
>> I have two things. I, I was
in World War two. I only served
in combat for 50 days, but it
was a, an experience. And I
came up with two conclusions.
One of them is in wars. There
are no winners. The second
conclusion was that wars are
the stupidest creation of human
mankind.
>> Thank you for your words of
advice, Harry. We appreciate it.
>> And stand up.
>> Yes. Okay.
>> I'll try not to pull
everything over. That's okay.
>> Thank you, thank you.
>> Perfect.
>> Okay. That concludes our
proclamations and brings us
into the communication from the
community. And we have several
individuals who have registered
online and who have given us
yellow cards this evening, Rory
Dicker, come and talk to us,
please. Rory. Thank you.
>> Good evening, mayor and
council members. I wanted to
start by saying thank you, not
just for considering this
funding. Actually, first of all,
I want to say my name is Rory
Dicker, and I'm here
representing Live Love outreach.
And I want to start by saying
thank you not just for this,
the consideration of this
funding, but for creating space
for a small organization like
ours to receive support and
make a meaningful impact in
this community. What you're
investing in isn't just a
program, it's a response to the
hours when our system is quiet
and the need is the loudest
street light. Outreach exists
in that gap. Late at night, in
the cold and the moments of
crisis when someone is deciding
whether they're going to
survive the night, seek help,
or give up entirely. Since
launching, we've served over
430 individuals and delivered
more than 1200 services. But
those numbers only tell a part
of the story. They represent
people who were freezing and
got a sleeping bag, someone in
withdrawal who made it to detox
instead of overdosing. A person
who has said yes to help at
1130 at night because someone
finally showed up when no one
else was available. We've had
confirmed life saving
interventions, including an
overdose reversal with Narcan
and an immediate transport to
care. We've connected people to
shelter during severe weather,
to detox, to housing pathways,
and just as importantly, we
built trust with individuals
who often don't engage in
traditional systems. This work
also strengthens the broader
system who you've invested.
We're not duplicating services.
We're extending services. We
coordinate with heart counts
for the homeless, shelters and
local providers in real time,
making sure people don't fall
through the cracks simply
because of the hour. And that's
what we're seeing right now
that matters. We're seeing
higher acuity, more mental
health crisis, more substance
use, more people living outside
in dangerous conditions. We're
seeing families, youth, and
people who have never been in
this situation before. And
we're seeing that when we show
up consistently, excuse me,
consistently, people respond,
they accept the help, they move
towards services, and they
begin to stabilize. Your
investment allows us to keep
showing up with the right
resources, the right staff, and
the ability to respond quickly
and effectively when it matters
the most. So truly, thank you.
Thank you for recognizing the
importance of this work, for
supporting solutions that meet
people where they are, and for
helping us continue to be a
bridge between crisis and
stability in our community.
Thank you.
>> Thank you. Rory. Let's have
Ren Altree and Nicole Lehan.
>> Okay, here we go.
>> Good night. Ren. Go ahead.
>> Good evening, mayor and
council members. My name is Ren
and I'm the director of one of
the directors of outsiders in.
And I'm here tonight to express
our deep gratitude for the
recommendation to fund our
project Hope and Housing
stability programs with home
ARP funds. This funding means
everything to the people we
serve. It means that someone
living in unsheltered tonight
will have an outreach team
meeting them where they are on
the streets, in camps, or where
they're parked, building trust
and gently guiding them toward
shelter and better options. And
then later, behind shelter
programs. When they're ready to
take that next step into
permanent housing, they won't
be doing it alone, either. What
makes this work is a peer,
supportive community of care.
Our specialists aren't reading
from a textbook. They've
personally experienced
homelessness, trauma, and the
hard work of rebuilding
stability. They shared
experience that that shared
experience creates a kind of
trust that traditional case
management simply cannot
replicate. When our
participants see someone who
has been where they are and
that they're now thriving, hope
becomes something tangible.
This funding allows us to keep
that support in place, not just
on the streets, not when they
meet them on day one, but after
shelter and not just on move in
day, but through the months
that follow, when people need
us most to help them dig into
the new routines and
responsibilities of becoming a
renter. We are grateful to the
City of Vancouver for believing
in this approach and in the
people, our staff who are
working on the front lines of
this work. We will continue to
work hard to meet our shared
goals. Thank you.
>> Thank you Erin. Nicole.
>> Good evening, Mayor and City
Council. My name is Nicole
Davis and Lehan and I have the
honor to serve as the executive
director at the Hispanic
Metropolitan Chamber. Thank you
for the opportunity to speak
here today. For more than 32
years, the Hispanic
Metropolitan Chamber has worked
to advance economic prosperity
and wealth creation for
underserved entrepreneurs
across Oregon and southwest
Washington. Today, I am here to
speak on the recommendation of
the Cdbg recommendations for
next year. Our small business
community is diverse and the
challenges businesses face are
complex. HMC proudly serves
child care entrepreneurs while
also supporting construction
businesses, food entrepreneurs,
janitorial companies, retail
stores, service providers, and
many other of the small
businesses that are essential
to the Vancouver economic and
neighborhood. We remain
committed to helping the city
meet economic development goals,
while also ensuring that
community and small business
owners are voices to continue
to guide this work. We believe
the strongest economic
strategies are those that are
both data and community
informed. HMC has intentionally
built a full circle ecosystem
of support for entrepreneurs
that goes beyond the
traditional technical
assistance providers, from
culturally responsiveness,
trusted navigation, advocacy,
membership, mentorship,
business stabilization, and the
list goes on. HMC is often the
first place businesses turn to
when they need help navigating
an unknown and inaccessible
system. Whether it's hosting
our upcoming child care
roundtable or helping business
owners understand the new tax
laws and regulations from the
City of Vancouver, or assisting
a storefront restaurant in
shifting its business model
from catering in response to
federal policy changes
affecting their operation. HMC
is there. Through the city
funding, HMC has able to
provide countless support to
the businesses that we all so
much love. These businesses are
not just statistics on a
spreadsheet, they are childcare
providers helping working
families stay employed,
contractors creating economic
mobility and helping working
families stay employed. Many of
those that are our favorite
things that make this city so
special at the time when city,
when the small businesses
owners feel the most
uncertainty and isolation. HMC
has been able to provide and be
at their corner thanks to the
City of Vancouver. Thank you
again for your time and your
leadership and commitment to
supporting the small business
community.
>> Thank you and councilors.
Yes, this was to have been done
under the public hearings. I'm
going to go ahead with the last
one. Kimberly Quinn knows.
>> Kairos, and she's also from
the Hispanic Chamber. I don't
know if you want us to wait.
She she's here.
>> Will do it now and then. We
won't do it during public
hearing.
>> And the mayor, there is one
more person that's remote under
the public hearing for tonight.
If you wanted to do that now as
well.
>> I have the only I the only
ones I have under remote. I
don't have any under remote.
The the three I have are all in
person.
>> On the page with the urban
sorry, 2026 housing.
>> I see her name. Okay. All
right, let's go ahead and put a
spacing on the agenda next time
for that one. Okay. Let's go
ahead. Kimberly. Go ahead hon.
>> Okay. Good evening Council.
Good evening, Mayor and council
members. My name is Kimberly
Quiroz. I serve as a senior
business developer for the
Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber.
For the past five years, I've
had the privilege of working
with entrepreneurs in the area
of Vancouver, supporting them
with starting their business
and growing their businesses
across many different
industries. Among those I work
directly with seven child care
providers here in Vancouver,
helping guide them through the
process of establishing and
sustaining their daycare
business. In the last few years,
the Hispanic Metropolitan
Chamber has supported 14
childcare businesses across the
Southwest Washington area. We
work in collaboration with many
different agencies that support
in this industry. While these
partners focus on requirements
and childcare specific training,
we focus on the business side,
helping the clients choose the
right business structure.
Complete registrations from the
federal, state, local county
regulations, and building
strong foundations through
business planning, financial
projections and marketing
strategies. Several of the
providers we support are now
running successful businesses,
three of which have achieved a
major milestone business. A
home ownership, which is really
huge, allowing them to now
expand their services to be
able to see more children. One
of our businesses has even
reached the level four of
rating, which is the highest
level in recognition in the
area. In addition to childcare,
we support entrepreneurs in
many different industries,
including construction. Just
last year within the city of
Vancouver, we supported 12
construction businesses. Our
work includes helping
contractors, formalizing their
business, navigate licensing
compliance and pursue growth
opportunities such as expanding
across the state lines. June
3rd, we will be hosting a
collaborative workshop among
community partners to guide
entrepreneurs through both the
child care, the child care
business aspect of opening
their business. We are also
planning a similar workshop
focused on construction later
on this year, and supporting
contractors in building and
scaling their businesses. I
respectfully ask for your
continuing support for the
Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber
and the work that we're doing
to empower small business
owners and strengthen crucial
industries, such as childcare
and construction in our
community. Thank you for your
time and consideration.
>> Thank you. This is Melanie
available now. Let's go ahead
and finish up that.
>> Thank you. Mayor. And I
forgot to introduce myself. I'm
Sarah Dollar, the clerk for
tonight. So I am going to go
ahead and give her the
allowance for her microphone.
Thank you. And for her camera.
And then so Melanie, you are
good to speak now.
>> Thank you. Good evening,
Honorable mayor, vice mayor and
council members. I'm Melanie
for with upwards. I'm
respectfully asking that
Council director portion of
Cdbg funding towards our boost
program, which would be a
direct investment in
Vancouver's family, child care
providers and the families who
depend on them. I know there
are many strong applicants, so
I'll briefly highlight why this
can't wait. Vancouver child
care workers earn on average
$19.83 an hour, placing them in
the bottom 3% of wage earners
statewide, two thirds
nationally. Struggle two thirds
nationally. Struggle to afford
food and housing. These
providers love caring for
children, but they need help
with marketing, enrollment and
daily operations. This is
exactly the pain points that
boost addresses. Boost Perez
low to moderate income in-home
family childcare providers with
one on one business coaching
and free digital tools, so each
provider will be paired with a
dedicated care specialist to
create a custom business action
plan that identifies their
strengths, their weaknesses and
their personal business goals.
It also covers different
modules from ranging from
marketing, programing and
staffing and more. They also
get free access to our child
care management system, which
we've been designing since 2017,
specifically to design to
address family child care
providers biggest pain points
and help them build a more
sustainable, high quality
business. Long term, it's
important to note that they
retain free access to the
platform beyond the program
year, ensuring long term
stability. This is a proven
model. We've launched in over
30 cities and counties we've
mentored in the last two years
alone, over 500 providers. We
created 180 teaching assistant
jobs. We helped these providers
grow revenue by 25% and expand
child care slots by 30 to 50%,
all within the first year alone.
So we're launching in Clark
County on July 1st. But as you
know, Cdbg funding that would
prohibit us from serving
providers in Vancouver. So what
I propose is a pilot program
with 48,000 in Cdbg funding. We
can support six providers in
Vancouver, create two teaching
assistant jobs, and improve
care for over 70 children. And
again, that's through the first
year alone, really through
boost, any Vancouver family
will have access to a dedicated,
dedicated care specialist to
help them find care that suits
their unique needs, including
emergency backup care. As a
parent of two young ones, I
know how important that is so
that I can attend meetings like
this with you tonight. So with
council support, we can
strengthen these vital small
businesses, create local jobs
and help families get back to
work. I'm always happy to
answer any questions, both as a
representative of upwards. But
first, I was a client who will
forever be thankful for the
efforts partner daycares who
cared for my little ones. Thank
you.
>> Thank you very much. I am
not going to close community
communication. The next five
individuals would like to talk
to us about comp plan, and I'm
going to leave that open. Let's
go to consent agenda. We are
pulling item number three to be
read into the record. But
councilors, are there any other
items in consent that you would
like to pull at this time? So
I'll entertain a motion to
approve items one, two and four.
>> Move to approve.
>> Fox. Seconded by Harless.
All those in favor, say aye.
>> Aye.
>> Opposed. Motion passes. Now
we'll go into item number three.
>> Council Member Hansen. I'm
going to go ahead and recuse.
>> Thank you. Item number three
is an ordinance adopting,
updating and amending the City
of Vancouver 2026 2045
Comprehensive plan called our
Vancouver Repealing and
Replacing the City of Vancouver
zoning map and repealing and
replacing title 20 Land Use and
Development Code of the
Vancouver Municipal Code,
providing for severability and
an effective date. So at this
point, I'm going to bring it
back to community communication.
And I have Paul Quimby and Mike
Philbin, please. Paul. Go ahead.
>> Good evening, Madam Mayor
and City Council members. My
name is Paul Quimby. I've lived
in the northwest neighborhood
since 1958. Growing up there,
going to school, coming back
there, and have resided there
with my wife and children. I
know the neighborhood extremely
well. We last month had a
northwest neighborhood meeting
attended by more than 60 people.
That number might even be more
overwhelmingly, we voted
against this comprehensive
level two development for all
the reasons that everybody, I'm
sure is very much aware of
infrastructure, roads, curbing
sidewalks, all of that. The
diversity, I think, can be
found more useful in other
parts of the city where it's
already developed, with
transportation and other
amenities that would make it
more of a positive result of
this mandate from the state
that we're required to do. I'm
here as a representative of the
rest of the neighborhood
association, that we are very
much against it, and we would
encourage you to continue
further study and not vote on
this to continue to find some
viable options. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Mike.
>> Hi. My name is Mike Philbin
and I am a lifelong resident of
the Vancouver area and a
current resident of Northwest
Neighborhood. First, I kind of
want to go on record. I'm I'm
pro zoning reform. I'm pro
increasing density. I'm I'm
very much for making home
ownership more accessible. And
I would like to think that my
children will own a house
before they're my age, to be
honest with you. And I
understand how complicated that
is right now. Our neighborhood
is going to be zoned for what
you call low rise. And I'm for
that. I'm for property rights
and being able to do what you
want to do on your property.
And I get that part. A
significant part of our
neighborhood is zoned what you
guys are calling mid-rise. And
there's some definitional
questions I have about how
you're defining that. And, and
you say that this is they're
doing this everywhere, but not
everywhere. They're defining it
the way you're defining it. So
that's one issue. But also to
the extent that we're making
home ownership more accessible,
putting mid-rise developments
in our neighborhood is simply
inviting institutional
investors to build big
buildings that they'll rent
forever. And I don't see that
as a solution to this problem.
We also have infrastructure
issues. Lincoln is not an
arterial. It's it's not made
for that. We don't have the
kind of public transit. I mean,
there's a bus that goes up and
down Lincoln every couple hours
or whatever, but we don't have
the, the, the public
transportation infrastructure
in place to support that. And I
just kind of want to voice
these concerns. I'm I'm not
against zoning changes. I'm not
against increasing density. I
think that mid-rise development
around that area in particular,
I'm talking about the area
around Franklin Park and then
also around Eden Park. There's
just the infrastructure is not
there, the roads aren't there.
So I think that's a fool's
errand to put those put to
clear the way for six story
buildings in those
neighborhoods. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Zachary Pyle and
Ben McCarty.
>> Good evening, Mayor and City
Council. My name is Zachary
Pyle. I'm the vice chair of the
Planning Commission. And I'm
here tonight to represent the
Planning Commission and our
unanimous recommendation to
approve our Vancouver's plan
and the title 20 update. I just
want to give you a few personal
reflections on what it meant to
be a part of the program here.
This plan has been both a joy
and a burden to participate in.
The process has spanned several
years and dozens of touch
points for me as a commissioner
and personally, through
community forums and
conversations with neighbors.
For some, it hasn't moved fast
enough, and for others it is
moving too much, too fast. It
has aspirations that if we
achieve, would make me very
proud to call Vancouver home.
But realizing those aspirations
is going to require thousands
of detailed requirements,
regulations and guidelines to
back them up. And in many ways,
a single vote felt inadequate
for the document of this
complexity and breadth, but
would also be misleading to
suggest that the project is
over. The Planning Commission
reviews amendments to the
Comprehensive Plan every year,
including before the end of
this year. In 2026. This
commission and our staff are
committed to revisiting the
document for as long as it
serves as the governing
framework for the city to
ensure it continues to meet the
needs of the community. I
should be clear that not every
element of this plan was
without debate. Questions about
building heights and medium
scale neighborhoods, and the
restrictiveness of buffer zones
between zoning districts are
just two examples of where
commissioners were in
opposition with one another.
These were good faith
disagreements, and they were
representative of the kind of
tension that runs through a
document of this scope. I
raised them not to cast doubt
on the plan, but because
compromise was required. And
some of those conversations may
need to continue in the months
and years to come. Through it
all, several through lines
brought me to make a
recommendation for approval.
One. This plan was built on a
seek to understand foundation
staff, and the Commission
actively listened to the
industry that works within the
code Dayley and to the
community it is meant to serve.
The result is a plan with its
priorities straight and
regulations written to serve
those priorities. Two, it
removes regulatory barriers to
meeting market demand, whether
that means infill housing or
neighborhood commercial
services. This plan opens the
possibilities for the market
that was previously barred from
pursuing, and three is built
for compromise. This plan
reflects thousands of opinions,
hard facts and competing
interests. As conditions shift
in the years ahead. I believe
its underlying structure is
flexible enough to meet and
adapt the demands of the
community accordingly. In
closing, I want to recognize
the dedication of yourselves,
the council staff and my fellow
commissioners throughout. The
process has been no small
undertaking and we did not take
it lightly. Equally important
is our commitment to remaining
responsive to the realities of
our market and the community
for as long as the plan is in
effect. In conclusion, the
Vancouver Planning Commission
unanimously recommends adoption.
Thank you.
>> Thank you Ben.
>> Good evening, Madam Mayor.
Members of the council. My name
is Ben McCarty and I live at
906 North West 51st Street in
Vancouver. And I'm the
president of the Northwest
Neighborhood Association. I'm
here tonight on his behalf to
represent its members and my
neighbors. At the April 30th,
2026 meeting of the Northwest
Neighborhood Association,
members voted in two in favor
of two resolutions regarding
the City of Vancouver's
Comprehensive Plan update,
approved by a vote of 19 in
favor to 17 opposed. The
Northwest Neighborhood
Association requested that the
City of Vancouver continue its
comprehensive plan process to
allow more time for further
education. About the plan
update and to encourage
additional feedback approved by
a vote of 38 in favor to just
one oppose. The Northwest
Neighborhood Association
requested the City of Vancouver
Place, the northwest
neighborhood, entirely within
the low scale neighborhood
designation. The northwest
neighborhood recognizes that
all neighborhoods in Vancouver
will play a role in addressing
the city's housing shortage. We
embrace the desire to increase
diversity, growth, and
responsible densification to
meet the city's current
challenges. What we oppose in
this update is the scale of
these changes through the
overuse of the medium scale
designation and long
established neighborhoods,
particularly its application to
much of the northwest
neighborhood. We expressed the
following concerns regarding
the application of medium scale
to the northwest neighborhood,
while respectfully requesting
that the entirety of the
neighborhood be zoned as low
scale, allowing for 75 foot
tall, maximum infill
development in long established
neighborhood would create a
significant strain on local
infrastructure, streets and
multimodal transit, as well as
increased demand for utilities
and emergency services. There
will be significant negative
safety impacts through the
increase of multimodal traffic
on narrow streets that do not
have sufficient space to safely
allow for parking, pedestrian
and cycling usage, and
increased vehicular traffic.
Maximum infill development will
have a negative environmental
impact on vital green spaces,
as well as restricting the
ability of people and wildlife
to access those spaces.
Promoting maximum infill at the
medium scale designation
creates competition between
first time home buyers and
large, wealthy developers,
forcing potential home buyers
to become renters and limiting
upward mobility. The city
claims that the impact of such
projects will either be minimal
or incremental, but has no way
of ensuring this outcome. By
placing maximum infill
development within long
established neighborhoods,
significant economic pressure
and strain will be placed on
those living near intensely
developed locations. The city
has acknowledged the and the
necessity to evaluate the
comprehensive plan, its impact
and how it meets the needs of
the residents in Vancouver on
an ongoing basis. We encourage
this evaluation to be done
before committing to maximum
infill development and causing
irreversible damage. The
Northwest Neighborhood
Association hopes that the city
will be open to updating and
implementing the comprehensive
plan through a balanced
approach that will mitigate
potential negative impacts for
its residents. We remain ready
to be an active partner with
the city and efforts to
encourage positive outcomes
through responsible growth and
encouraging effective housing
solutions and a greater variety
of housing types. Thank you for
your time and for your
consideration tonight.
>> Thank you. Stephen Eilee.
>> Good evening. Mrs. Mayor and
the City Council. I didn't
really come here prepared to
provide comments, so I'm going
to very quickly go through what
I what I'd like to talk about
real quickly. I'm a biologist
by trade. I'm retired. It's a
blessed day. I provided
comments when the comprehensive
plan first came out about my
concern about invasive species
and non-native species. And not
all. Not all those species are
are deleterious to the
environment. But I thought in
our comprehensive plan, we
should say something about some
of that and addressing that in
the future. And when I look
through the comprehensive plan,
what I see is the draft is that
we have some very nice
statements that have made their
way into it about pollinator
habitats. I'm looking at
chapter six, the parks parks
section, supporting a healthy
urban ecosystem. That's great.
Prioritize pesticide free
landscapes, and then we get to
removal and reducing use of
invasive species. And what I
would like to see somewhere in
there is just a short statement,
because that's that species
that are already here. The
concern is future species that
are showing up. And I would
make reference to the emerald
ash borer, which is now
occurring in Washington County.
Two weeks ago, they had golden
mussels that occurred at the
southern Oregon border that
were found at a boat checking
station there. And there's
really nothing in this plan
that says we need to have some
kind of a way to immediately
respond to invasions that that
are occurring at the time. So
I'd like to propose some kind
of a statement that we
proactively address future
infestations by able to provide
an immediate response in our
plan. And, and we've got a
removal and reducing of
invasive species and future
invasions. And I think we just
propose that we have some type
of response plan. Or are we
able to put through the Parks
Department, whether through
maintenance or anybody else, is
that people are there to
immediately respond to future
infestations because they can
occur very rapidly and they're
very expensive to treat. If we
having worked for a federal
agency, it can take 3 or 4
years to get an appropriate
response, and that's too late
for a lot of things that are
that are trying to make their
way into our environment. Thank
you very much. Thank you.
>> Steven? Yes, Steve? Hold on
just a second, councilor Fox.
Go ahead.
>> Councilor Fox here. I just
want to say that the city's
comprehensive plan likely
wouldn't have something
specific about invasive species.
But our critical areas,
ordinances and our shoreline
master program would. And I'm
looking to Rebecca, but those
are requirements as part of our
state, our state's
comprehensive planning
framework, and all of the other
regulations that go a lot
deeper than a comp plan. So
perhaps staff can.
>> Do a lot of this comp plan
is.
>> Way up. Biologist, you would
know. Yes.
>> Yeah. And I'm kind of, as
I've said before, I'm kind of a
down in the weeds kind of guy.
I mean, I looked at freshwater
invertebrates and little bugs
that swim in the water. And
that's, that was what I studied
a life time doing. But I just.
Yes. Thank you.
>> I'm just wondering if since
our some of our subsequent work
after the comp plan gets
adopted is, you know, fine
tuning our zoning ordinances
and our critical area
ordinances and everything that
follows, perhaps we could staff
could connect with you to make
sure that those provisions are
within those particular
regulations.
>> Yeah. I just say my concern
is about future infestations.
Yes. We want to call it that,
that that we have some type of
response prepared that we can
put together an action team,
whatever it takes. Great. Okay.
>> Okay. Thank you. All right.
That concludes our
communication. Now, Miss Dollar,
no one online for any of this?
>> No. No one else online.
>> Okay. Let's go ahead and
bring up staff. So Rebecca,
while that note is still is the
most current comp plan or the
two other shoreline critical
areas, all of the above or just
the last two.
>> So we added the language
about around removing and, you
know, essentially addressing
invasive species based on this
comment, this was a change we
made at the policy level. So
that's, that's where you see it.
The details would be in
regulations per council member
Fox.
>> All right. Thank you. Okay.
You Rebecca, you heard a couple
points that were brought up
about medium scale. And a
couple other items. Let's talk
about that. As you after you go
through your presentation.
>> Okay, great. Okay. Rebecca
Kennedy, Deputy Director,
Community Development
Department I'm on the team that
has been updating, working on
the update to the comprehensive
plan and title 20 for the last
several years. I'm joined by
Mark Pearson, a senior planner
and development review. He's
been the task lead on the code,
and you all have seen us here
before. You presenting at
workshops several times now on
this topic. Okay. So we'll just
do a quick review on the things
we start out every workshop on
this topic with review some
changes that were in the draft
plan and code since the the
last time we had a workshop
with council, which was on
April 27th. Review briefly, the
role of Sepa in this type of
process and then outline next
steps and a recommendation. So
the Comprehensive Plan update
is mandated under the Growth
Management Act. So that is our
sort of statewide land use
planning system in in
Washington. It's been around
for nearly three decades. The
city does comprehensive plans
every ten years, sometimes more
or sometimes less. In this case,
we've because of Covid, we were
delayed as far as every other
jurisdiction in the state. It's
called. What we're doing now is
called the periodic review
process. And so every ten years
you must, under the Growth
Management Act, look at your
your plan and your implementing
regulation and update it to
look full 20 years out and to
plan for the population and
jobs that you will need based
on your or sorry, housing and
jobs you will need based on
your population projections for
the future. This has been a,
I'd say, a complex update, more
so than perhaps other times
because of a lot of action or a
lot of changes at the
legislative level to state laws
that cities needed to address
and incorporate into their
comprehensive plans. That
includes HB 1110, which was the
middle housing law that
required cities of a certain
size to allow 4 to 6 units per
residential lot in in your low
scale residential zoning
districts, HB 1220, which
required us to plan not just
for more units, but also buy in
plan for those units by income
band, including permanently
supportive housing, and also
required us to account for
racially disparate impacts. HB
1337 required us to allow two
accessory dwelling units per
residential lot. The council
has already taken action on
that. We took early action on
that as part of our series of
housing work. There's a lot of
regulations at the state level
about parking minimums. We are
going to be aligning our impact
fees to the size of housing, so
that there's a proportionality
between the size of the house
and the impact fees they they
pay. And then this was also the
first periodic review cycle
where jurisdictions were
required to have a climate
chapter and a greenhouse gas
emissions inventory, and as
well as a climate vulnerability
analysis. These are the key
tasks and processes. So in
terms of the way I think about
it, the buckets of work that
take place under the header of
the Comprehensive Plan update
one is the public engagement
piece of that. There are
requirements at the state level
for public involvement. We
certainly exceed those and go
above and beyond that. And a
lot of that is is based on this
council's direction to really
engage the community in
decision making and shaping
these sorts of policies. The
comprehensive plan itself, with
all the background information.
Three is the land use code. So
title 20 of the Vancouver
Municipal code for is
implementation. So almost all
the chapters have priority
implementation steps. A key
piece of that is also our
capital facilities plan, which
you have to be able to
demonstrate. You can serve the
growth you're planning for. And
then lastly, the environmental
impact statement analysis,
which is how we comply with the
State Environmental Policy Act
or Sepa in Washington state.
And then on the right, you can
see the process rolled up to a
pretty high level. We started
out by talking to the community
and learning about the
community, doing a lot of
detailed analysis. We developed
land use alternatives that we
analyzed through a draft
environmental impact statement
process. We did that analysis
to understand potential impacts,
but as well as mitigations and
avoidance strategies, we then
refined the the plan, the
policies and the code to. And
then we're now at the adoption
phase. You've seen this slide
before. So I'll just say in
summary that we did a lot of
community engagement. Talk to
many people, thousands of
people through the process,
engaged many more through
virtual tools and have had
significant touches with the
City Council, the Planning
Commission, other boards and
commissions, as well as the
community. So this slide
outlines our projections, so
our population projections, our
housing unit projections that
we would need to serve that
population and address our
existing deficit and the jobs
that we're projecting for in
order to provide employment
options for the community. I
think it's important to note
that the county is the entity
that selects population targets
under the Growth Management Act,
and they allocate those out to
the the cities and the urban
growth areas. Our we do our own
analysis, of course, because we
have an obligation to plan for
what we think we need and to
have a functioning housing
market. So our target is 38,000.
We were allocated by the county
just under 37,000. So there's
not a big difference. And part
of that is based on the
population projection that they
selected. So here are the plan
elements community experience
and equity and inclusion. Our
plan wide lenses land use and
development is where you find
the policies around growth and
development as well as many
maps. Housing is a required
element. Economic opportunity
is not required, but if you do
do it, there are rules R, c, w
s that that guide that climate
environment as mentioned above
or before is required. You do
have to have a parks,
recreation and cultural
services element, a
transportation element, a
public facilities and services
element where you analyze the
infrastructure needs that you
will have based on this growth.
And then you look at how you
will provide those based on
existing infrastructure, as
well as planned improvements,
and then annexation again, not
required. But if you do it,
there are guidelines for that
and then it is required by our
county wide planning policies,
which all jurisdictions in
Clark County jointly adopt.
Given the size of our urban
growth areas, particularly the
Vancouver Urban Growth Area.
>> Thank you. Rebecca Mark
Pearson, Development Review
Planner I'll be going over the
changes to title 20. Currently,
every parcel in the city has a
zoning district. The proposal
has every parcel in the city
having a new zoning or base
district. I'll use those terms
interchangeably. The big change
is that most of the development
standards that currently live
in our zoning or base districts
will be moving to building
types. The main thrust of this
was that currently, nearly 50%
of the city land is only
permitted to have a single
family house or a duplex,
severely limiting our housing
options for folks at the
beginning of their home buying
life cycle. And folks that
perhaps want to age in place or
community on the other side of
the life cycle. In addition, we
are looking at making every
zone a mixed use zone again.
Half of the city's land is only
not just residential, but
residential for single family
or a duplex unit. Those
regulations that currently live
in our. Our base districts will
mostly be moving to building
types. That's where our lot
standards will live. Lot
coverage frontage will have
allowed uses by base district
very similar to how we have now.
But again, we're going to have
more uses allowed in more
places. We'll also have some
overlays for those special
areas downtown. We have the
downtown design guidelines. We
have the airport over airport
overlay, for instance, the
table on the right is showing
at a very high level some of
those differences. I spoke
about the uses in the first row.
The second row is density.
Right now we have minimum and
maximum by a zone. We'll have
minimums only in the in the
draft that is under review,
we'll let heights, setbacks and
other site constraints really
limit what can be done on that
site. Not an arbitrary density
number. Building heights will
still be regulated by base
district just like it is now,
although those zones and
heights are changing. As for
parking right now, we have
minimums by use. For the most
part, most residential uses do
not have minimums and then
building placement. Right now,
our code focuses mostly on
minimum setbacks. We're moving
toward a more form based code
that is looking at moving
things closer to the street.
We'll have maximum setbacks,
build two lines, really
focusing on that building's
relationship to the street.
This slide is showing our
comprehensive plan designations
along the top row. Those are
our residential neighborhoods,
our urban mixed use areas, our
employment and industrial areas,
and our green spaces. With
under those plan plan
designations, we'll have our
zoning or base districts for
residential neighborhoods.
We'll have our mobile home or
manufactured home district.
That will be a special
designation for our 16 existing
mobile home parks within the
city. And then we'll have our
low scale and medium scale
neighborhoods for urban mixed
use plan designation. We'll
have our mixed use
neighborhoods and our regional
activity center, our employment
and industrial designation will
include our institutional
campus, industrial employment
and heavy industrial. And again,
as we say, nearly every time,
heavy industrial is not really
changing in location or
standards. We've made some
minor refinements to heavy
industrial, but for the most
part, those areas and standards
are staying the same. And
working with our parks folks,
our green space designation has
has two zones one for parks,
developed parks areas and the
other one for natural areas.
And I'm going to hand it back
to Deputy Director Kennedy.
>> Thank you. Mark. So Rebecca
Kennedy, Deputy Director,
Community Development
Department so the preferred
alternative process, I think
this is important for folks to
understand. And I've spent a
lot of time corresponding with
people to try to help them
understand how different zoning
districts were applied around
the city. So I guess I think
it's important to note that we
worked with council to develop
a framework, and that's what
you see on the right for moving
from land use alternatives that
we analyzed in the draft
environmental impact statement
process to a final preferred
alternative. And that was
looking at how we incorporated
DEIS comments that aligned with
your policy refining centers
and corridors, where much but
not all of the growth will
occur. Talking to schools about
any site specific capacity
issues that they might have. So
we weren't worsening those in
the short term, working with
our urban forestry team to
understand where we had
significant privately owned
tree canopy and applying zoning
districts in those areas that
would limit development and
preserve more trees. We looked
at where do we have parks and
community services and
essential services? Those are
things people need access to,
and we put more housing around
those. We carefully looked at
all our employment lands, light
industrial lands. We looked at
land use, you know,
establishing land use patterns
that over time reduce the
amount vehicle miles traveled
either because people are just
driving less or because they
have other trip choices, but
that's mostly because they have
more services and stuff they
need on a daily basis, closer
to where they live. We also
looked at our enhanced transit
network, our planned enhanced
transit network that we've
developed with C-tran, and this
was endorsed by this group via
adoption of the Transportation
System plan. A couple years ago,
we analyzed public facilities
and services, both what we have
and where we know we have
planned investments and
improvements, and then looked
at climate, health and
vulnerability. So we applied
this framework consistently
around the city. So when we
said parks and open space, and
we're going to put more housing
by parks because that is one of
the most consistent comments we
got. We applied it consistently.
So there is medium scale zoning
around parks because people say
that they need access to those
things on a daily basis, and
that was the direction of this
council. I've heard from
several folks, you know, just
asking like, you know, my
neighborhood has two different
zoning districts in it. And I
don't understand why. And so
I've done, like I said, pretty
extensive correspondence
walking people through why is X
neighborhood look like this?
Where you have a park here, you
have a transit line here, you
have a corridor that's on our
bike and small mobility network,
where we're going to be making
improvements soon to kind of
help people understand where
particularly an existing single
family neighborhoods where
medium scale has been applied
versus the low the new low
scale zoning neighborhood
zoning district. I went parcel
by parcel through the city,
applying this framework and
looking at every single
neighborhood. And I can tell
you with confidence that we
consistently applied it. And
what that resulted in was more
dispersed growth. So it was
growth was spread out more
around the city than either
option one or alternative 1 or
2. And it really sought to
leverage public investments in
transportation, in parks and
open space in other
infrastructure. So I hope that
maybe helps answer some of the
comments about why certain
neighborhoods are what. I also
just want to acknowledge, and
there was a, I think, a good
article in the Columbian this
weekend about infrastructure
and how infrastructure gets
built. And like most all,
probably most, if not all
cities in Washington, we are,
you know, we we have the
ability and we do require new
development to pay for its its
impact on the system. But we
can't make it pay for existing
deficiencies. So they new
development pays impact fees.
It contributes to parks, it
contributes to transportation
and schools, and then also
systems development charges,
which are what help fund their
relative impact on sewer system,
water utility, wastewater
collection. And but that is for
that is for demand that they
add the overall maintenance of
the system and our management
of it long term is supported
both by the existing by the
existing community and new
development. And so I think
it's important to know that as
like, there are areas of the
city that will never get
sidewalks unless those frontage
and improvements come from,
from new development. So you
will start to see improvements
incrementally as development
occurs. And again, it will
happen incrementally over time.
So I, I appreciate that people
know their neighborhoods very
well, and people have been
extremely generous with their
time and their participation in
this process and sharing their
knowledge. And I want to just
make it clear that there are
ways that infrastructure gets
built and maintained over time.
And some of that is just
through the development process.
And so you'll see, you know,
like I said, incremental
improvements as you see
incremental development. Here's
the preferred alternative map.
So we made some changes to the
planning code since the last
time that you we had a workshop
on April 27th. In terms of the
plan, we added our Ada
transition plan to the
appendices. That's a required
element under state or acquired
piece. Under state law. We
added an analysis related to HB
1491. That's the transit
oriented development bill that
passed in 2024. And we added
some clarifications to the
housing and climate and
environment elements in
response to Department of
Commerce feedback. Council
member Fox, I did just want to
respond to your about like
where you emailed this morning
about agency comment letters,
and I know that you found what
you needed, but one of the
reasons that you do not see
comment letters from the
Department of Commerce is
because we addressed every
single one of their their
things that they raised during
the review, and they did not
see a need to submit comments.
On the code side. A lot of just
sort of cleanup stuff. We
addressed some numbering issues.
We added review fees for middle
housing because before it was
just bifurcated single family
or multifamily. We added the
port. The port gave us some
good comments on just wanting
clarification on uses allowed
in the industrial areas. So we
took care of that. We tried to
clarify within the landscape
section some terms to make sure
we use them consistently. And
then this came up at the
workshop that the maintenance
bonds that we are proposing to
have for landscaping. So I
think it's worth restating the
problem statement here is that
we require landscaping to be
done at the time of development,
and that those trees that are
getting planted aren't living.
And part of that is because
they're not being maintained.
And so this would require
maintenance, but that can be
that it can be across the sort
of actors. So it could be at
the developer stage. So when
someone entitles the lands in
lots but doesn't actually build
the houses, it could be at the
builder stage where you build
the house, and it could be at
the owner stage where you
actually live in the house. So
there's flexibility there. And
this was something Council
member Hansen brought up on the
27th. And then just again, the
final environmental impact
statement is not something that
you adopt, but it is something
that you review and that
essentially supports your
adoption because it's it is our
method for meeting the
requirements of the State
Environmental Policy Act. So
this has been a long process.
Staff tonight is asking you to
move this forward and set a
public hearing date of June 1st,
2026, to adopt the new plan
mapping code. And I just want
to emphasize that this we, we,
we review our planning code
annually through our annual
review program. We can update
our code any time we commit.
Staff commits to working with
the development community and
others to efficiently address
issues that may come up. It's
not going to be perfect, but we
have worked very hard with lots
of community members, and I
think it has landed in a good
place, and that's all we've got.
Mayor.
>> Thank you very much.
Councilors comments.
>> Sure.
>> Councilor Fox, go ahead.
>> If it's interesting, because
I was reflecting that, you know,
probably go back to that slide
that shows all of the
engagements you've had with us
over the last couple of years.
And, and I know I and other
council members have shown up
at many of those events as well.
So it's been a lot of work to
get us here. And I am reluctant
to repeat things that I have
said in previous meetings.
However, I do want to say that,
you know, if it seems as if I'm
short on comments tonight is
because staff has worked hard
with me and other council
members to incorporate a lot of
our deeper, more detailed, you
know, concerns and comments
throughout the process, which I
really appreciate and I see
reflected in this version. You
know, reading through it again,
I'm not seeing I'm not seeing
the errors that we saw in the,
you know, some of the little
typos and all of those things
have all been cleaned up. I
mean, there's still maybe a,
you know, minor little
something that is insignificant
that you're still going to find
because it's a big document and
a lot of work. And, and you're
probably still going to find
something weird for the next
five years every time you read
it. Right. So I'm just really
supportive of what, what you
guys have created and what
you've brought before us. And,
and I'm hearing things that
folks are concerned about. We
have some specific comments
that have been brought forward
to us, you know, recently. And,
you know, my inclination is
that we start a list of things
that we could look at for our
next update next year so that
we can get this over the line
and have something to work from,
versus spending more time on
the, on the really big push
that we're at right now. So
it's not to say that we are
ignoring things that are being
brought forward at this point,
but I think there's a time and
a place, and I think we could
still address those things in
our next update next year. And
I also just wanted to say, just
to be clear, in case folks are
confused about my role, I do
work for the Department of
Commerce. I do work for the
Growth Management Services unit.
However, the Growth Management
Services unit in relationship
to this to any of the
comprehensive plans, we are not.
Comprehensive plans are brought
before the commerce in a role
of commerce. Reviewing them for
conformance with the Growth
Management Act. It isn't a
compliance. There's no
regulation involved. So in that
way I have no additional
influence or any reason that
I'd have to recuse myself from
this particular process.
>> Thank you councilor.
Counselor.
>> Thank you, mayor, and thank
you to the two of you for your
presentation tonight. So first
on the record, I live in a
neighborhood that has been
entirely zoned medium scale,
and there is apprehension that
comes with that designation.
Rebecca, you and I have talked
about setbacks and my
neighborhood, part of the
character, my my neighborhood
is setbacks that exist, that go
all the way back to the early,
early 1900s. So, and, and, and
anybody who's been listening
knows that I have complained at
nauseam about the, what I view
as a under servicing in public
transportation in my network,
in the time I've been on
council, public transit service
in my neighborhood is decreased,
not increased. So even though I
have said on the board of
C-tran and all this, I have, I
have been I have personally
felt the impacts. So there are
there are some some points that
got brought up, and I just
would ask that we can, if you
would help me kind of follow
through with that. So medium
scale neighborhood allows for
up to 75.
>> 75ft.
>> 75ft, which the vision is,
you know, that could be up to
like a six story building.
>> It could, it could be. I
think we think it's pretty
likely it's going to be more
like five stories. And the
reason we built in that height
flexibility is because of
energy code number one,
Washington state has the most
kind of robust energy code in
the country. And then also
because we heard from builders
that. So more light was
important.
>> Okay, so what does that mean?
Energy code.
>> So the energy code in
Washington state requires you
to have more insulation
essentially. So it requires you
to build more energy efficient
buildings. And so the way that
impacts housing is you need
more space between floors to
insulate. And so you need thus
more height for each floor.
>> And anything else.
>> I am not an energy code
expert. It also requires you to
have.
>> It seems like five stories
and 75ft seems like.
>> I do have something to add.
Council person, senior planner
and Development review. Part of
the. The reason I thought that
we heard from folks in the
stakeholder community was that
if we wanted to realistically
allow mixed use buildings in
medium scale, in addition to
what Rebecca is mentioning
about the energy code, that
first floor, floor to ceiling
will need to be a lot taller
than our residential right? If
you walk into a lot of
commercial spaces, it's not 9
or 10ft. It's 14, 16, 18ft tall.
So that first floor is almost a
double height floor. That is
one of the reasons we heard
that we should look at
increasing the height and the
medium scale if we wanted the
potential for a mixed use
building. With commercial on
the ground floor and
residential above.
>> And I just think lastly, I
tried to just say it, but but
if we're kind of listing the
reasons for the height, the
other piece of feedback we
heard pretty clearly from the
builders and development
community is that if you're
going to have denser housing
and more people in, you know,
the space that we have, they're
going to want to build taller
ceilings with more light to
just increase the livability
and the sort of the, the meet
the market demand for that more
dense housing type.
>> Okay. And I'm also assuming
there's Hvac is likely going to
go on the, the roof of the
building.
>> Yes.
>> Okay. So we, we allow, we
allow this. Is it then just
automatic meaning somebody can
then just walk into the
building department and hand in
a permit and immediately start
building a 75 foot building in,
in a neighborhood that
traditionally hasn't had that
or what, are there other
reviews that have to go in or.
>> Seven, seven units or higher
requires a pre-application
conference, which is where you
come in and you sit down with
staff from all the disciplines.
So engineering, transportation,
land use, and the you can get
on a list to be notified of.
When those occur, we
automatically notify
neighborhood association
leadership of those. So that is
your chance. But the in terms
of like, there's, there's,
there'll be site postings. So
there'll be lots of
opportunities for people to
become aware. But yes, we are
proposing by right development
up to 200 units to align with
our CPA exemptions. You know, I
believe we have talked about,
you know, the NLC book of
strategies on housing, and one
of the major ones is by right
development. Take the
uncertainty out of it. So
there's a process, but it's not
a. A process that includes
appeals.
>> So specifically getting at
this, the. So we'll, we'll, you
know, the commentary tonight
was about northwest
neighborhood and, and a
specific comments about Lincoln.
And I know Lincoln because I
run Lincoln or I have run
Lincoln when I'm being
physically active. And there
are large sections of Lincoln
that don't have sidewalks.
There are sections of Lincoln,
not Lincoln. Excuse me. Yeah.
Lincoln. There's sections of
Lincoln that are owned by BPA
that don't have sidewalks. So
the concern is being raised
about this. What what's the
condition of the infrastructure?
And then adding to that. And
you talked about, well,
development fees and
regulations can go much more
specifically, but how does
Lincoln.
>> Lincoln is on our bike and
our pedestrian, both our
pedestrian priority network and
our bike and small mobility
priority network. So that is a,
a corridor where at some point
we will be in more proactive
planning processes and then,
you know, going after money to
build the infrastructure. But
when we do those things,
traffic impact fees from
development is always part of
the calculation of how we put
together the funding for things.
Sidewalks likely will be done
largely through. Frontage
improvements associated with
development. We could and may
may do a sidewalk infill
project there, but I don't
believe we have one yet. Again,
though, I just want to
emphasize that this is a city
that is. It's a city that is
served by infrastructure. We
have existing infrastructure,
and I know some people may. I
think what we think of as
sufficient. It depends on who
we are. Certainly not having
sidewalks and not having bike
and small mobility lanes on a
major corridor is a thing. And
that's why it's on our list of
projects, and we will come to
it someday. But it doesn't mean
we'll have the resources at
that time to do every upgrade
we'd want without contributions
from development.
>> Okay, okay. That's where I
am tonight. Thank you.
>> Well, first of all, thank
you. Did you you.
>> Changed your mind.
>> New thoughts come up as we
continue to talk. I just wanted
to something that hasn't been
said yet that I think is
important to note that like
almost every workshop we've had,
we bring this up is when
something when the zoning or
changes, it doesn't mean it
immediately flips over. It's
about opportunity and being in
a housing crisis, not having
enough units, making sure that
we're applying, as you said,
this framework equitably across
the whole city provides an
opportunity to build housing.
But it doesn't it's it's not an
immediate flip. And so every
neighborhood is pitching in and
we need to build within our
city limits. So we're not we're
building smart and we're
building up. And that's not
contributing to sprawl. And
that fight that's happening
over over other county friends.
So and so I just wanted to
mention that since it had been
brought up yet. And again,
thank you so much for all the
work that you've done.
>> Yes, years and years and
years of work. We absolutely
appreciate it. Councilor, thank
you for bringing up many
council members on Vancouver
City Council live in
neighborhoods that will be
medium scale. So I too am one
of those. Shumway is in that
neck of the woods also, with
the large area of mixed use. So
we have it around us and we'll
have more. Rebecca, a question
was made in the community. Two
of them is Vancouver expanding
its urban growth area?
>> Vancouver does not control
its urban growth area. We do
not get to decide whether it
expands the. The preferred
alternate. The county is behind
us in the process. So the
county is the person, the
entity that manages and
regulates urban growth areas.
The. The version of the
preferred alternative that
their Council voted on two
weeks ago to take through a
final environmental Impact
Statement process did not
include any expansions of the
Vancouver Urban Growth Area,
which we had consistently
advocated for. It did include
expansions, not just of areas
that were like urban holding,
but of expansions that included
eg, land conversions in other
urban growth areas in the
county.
>> And that's where I'm going.
Did the City of Vancouver
support expansion of the
Vancouver Urban Growth Area
with AG agricultural land
conversion?
>> No, we didn't support any
expansion of the U. G, A and we
have not supported ag land
conversion.
>> I wanted you to make sure
that that was said loud and
clear, because we have been
told that we did. And that's
not the testimony that I have
ever heard or discussed. Thank
you so very much, councilors. I
believe we have completed
conversations on this issue.
I'll entertain a motion.
>> Mayor, move to approve.
>> Stober. Seconded by. Harless
Harless. No additional comments.
All those in favor say aye. Aye.
Opposed? Motion passes. Thank
you very much. We'll see you
June 1st. That concludes the
consent agenda and we'll move
into the public hearing. We
have hearing number. Handsome
back. Yep. Let's get our
colleague. We'll move into item
number five the right of way
telecommunications franchise
ordinance agreement for
Michelle Marchel Telecom Inc.
doing business as light Curve,
an ordinance relating to the
management of public rights of
way granting to Michelle
Telecom also doing business as
light curve and its affiliates
and a non-exclusive,
irrevocable franchise to
install, operate and maintain a
telecommunications system in on
over upon a long and across
public ways of the City of
Vancouver, Washington,
establishing certain rights,
duties, terms and conditions
with respect to the franchise
and setting an effective date
and conditions. Grantee and
city are sometimes collectively
referred to as the parties. Mr.
Lande, please.
>> Good evening, Mayor and
Council. Aaron Lande, assistant
city manager. So, as mentioned,
light curve has come before the
city requesting a ten year
franchise agreement. The city.
The light curve has agreed to
the city's standard,
non-exclusive franchise with
the mutual option for five
additional years. In addition
to the initial ten, the
language provides ample
protection for damage for city
right of way assets and provide
additional broadband
connectivity options for our
residents and businesses. And
just a reminder to you all,
there was a first reading on
this proposed ordinance on
April 6th. Tonight is the
second reading, an opportunity
for public hearing before
council considers the ordinance
for adoption. And I will just
note that this proposed
ordinance establishes the
mandatory terms and conditions
under which the franchisee must
maintain and operate its
telecommunication facilities
within the rights of way, and
the city has granted several
similar nonexclusive
telecommunications franchises
to different companies, and
federal law requires that the
franchise terms not put one or
more other franchises at a
competitive disadvantage
relative to other providers.
And so as such, these franchise
agreements tend to be very
similar. And in case anyone's
counting, this is the 10th.
>> Thank you, Mr. Lande. I'll
open the public hearing. I have
no cards. I have no one
registered. So I'll close the
public hearing, bring it back
to council councilors. Do you
have any questions of Mr. Lande.
Mayor Soelberg?
>> Thank you, Councilmember
Stover, the thing I always want
to say, whenever these things
come before us, we have very
little control over what can be
done. The FCC has been very
explicit to preempt a lot of
control for municipalities. So
if somebody has something to
complain about, this is best
directed towards the Federal
Communications Commission.
Thank you.
>> Thank you. And just for
those individuals, a reminder
that nothing should be left in
their front yard when these are
done. No. 4.5ft orange stakes
in the ground or anything else.
So if something is left, please
give us a call. We'll have it
removed. I'll entertain a
motion.
>> Move to approve.
>> Seconded by Stover. Stover.
Roll call. Vote, please.
>> Council member Harless. I
Fox. I Stover. I Hanson. Mayor.
>> McEnerny Ogle I. Motion
passes. Thank you, Mr. Lande.
This brings us into the HUD
development annual Action plan.
This is a resolution relating
to the adoption of the City
Community Development Block
Grant and Home Investment
Partnerships annual action plan
for the 2026 program year
authorizing the City Manager to
execute agreements on behalf of
the City of Vancouver.
Consistent with the Cdbg and
Home Annual Action Plan
providing for severability and
an effective date. Good evening.
Thank you.
>> Good evening. Samantha
Whitley, housing program
Manager. I'm joined here
tonight with Victor Saldana,
our small business and
entrepreneurship program
manager. We presented last week
at council and brought back
some additional information for
you this week. So same slides
on the timeline and same amount
of resources available. We'll
provide some additional
information about the
Microenterprise selection
process and the scoring. And
then we still have the
substantial amendment before
you tonight. So we spent about
six months collecting
applications and reviewing them
and scoring them. And then we
drafted the action plan and had
it open for public comment for
30 days. It's due to HUD by May
15th. We'll submit it this
Friday. HUD has 45 days to
approve, and then our program
year will begin July 1st. The
funding for the Community
Development Block grant is
about 1.7 million. That
includes our entitlement annual
entitlement funding from HUD,
as well as program funding from
previous years that was left
over or program income that's
been collected over the past
year. Our home funds are about
1.2 million, and then the home
ARP funds were allocating about
500,000 this year. The agencies
that we propose to award are
Janus Youth and Share for
Rental Assistance, the
Community Foundation for
Capacity Building Council for
the homeless, live love and
outsiders in who were here
earlier testifying about their
outreach services for
homelessness. And then we have
the three businesses that had
previously been selected for
funding for business assistance,
two agencies that will provide
public services Council for the
homeless and foster, and then a
affordable homeownership
partner, Proud Ground, doing
their Land Land Trust program.
So looking at those awards,
that wasn't changed from last
week. So we can look at how
that might change tonight. But
these are the proposed outcomes.
If we funded the applications
that were recommended by the
scoring committee. And I'll
turn it over to Victor.
>> Good evening, mayor and
council members. Victor Saldana,
small business and
entrepreneurship program
manager. I will go more in
depth on the Microenterprise
guidelines. So Microenterprise
is designed to provide flexible
assistance to micro-enterprises.
Less than five staff, including
owners, must serve LMI
businesses, and owners in
Vancouver may have an industry
focus, but still serve broader
business base. And that ties
into our 2024 to 2028 HUD
Consolidated Plan, which was
designed to promote access to
employment, entrepreneurship
and small business resources,
particularly to underserved
communities, as well as to
provide economic opportunities
to households with low to
moderate income to create new
jobs, increase income via tools
such as business incubators,
micro-enterprise assistance,
and wraparound business
development services, which
we'll go into more in depth
with the scoring, and then also
wanted to bring up federal
regulations, prohibit targeting
specific demographic groups,
which tie into some of the
decisions made. Scoring
criteria. So this was a
question brought up last time
100 points possible. There's an
objective scoring portion which
is staff scoring. This is very
much based off of specific
information within the
application process committed
of matching funds. Ten points
risk assessment scoring was
also ten points. And then
project outcomes are five
points totaling 25 points for
the staff scoring. Then we have
the committee scoring which
provides scope and capacity,
and this is what the projected
program is going to be with 15
points max need and plan
alignment. This also ties in to
our specific industry segments,
which were childcare as well as
construction and trades, which
is the 20 points largest
section of this impact and
outcomes. This is how we report
to HUD. And as we go back to
what we report to HUD, it's
really our metrics for creating
jobs, supporting the community
and the Microenterprise field.
Financial feasibility, ten
points readiness. How quickly
will they be able to launch
program ten points and then
collaboration. This is
something that goes to the
aspect of wraparound services.
We want to make sure that a
small business microenterprise
that goes to one organization
is being able to be provided
other resources as well through
this. And that comes up to 75
points, which makes it a max
100 points. Application scoring
for micro-enterprises ranking
that we did inform the staff
recommendations. So as we look
into the objective scoring,
which is staff scoring, we have
Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber
scoring 20, which is the
largest portion, South
Southwest Washington Child Care
Partnership scored 16.5, which
is second highest score, and
then upwards and boost, which
scored 16. Both of those were
the child care providers, which
were the second and third
largest. When we go into the
scoring committee, and that was
the 75 points. We have fourth
plane forward scoring 67.71,
which was the largest, followed
by Hispanic Metropolitan
Chamber, 65.29 and then miso at
61.71. And as you can tell,
total scores rank one and two
were Hispanic Metropolitan
Chamber and Fourth Plane
Forward, which were
significantly high. And then we
had business impact northwest
miso and upwards and boost,
which were only separated by
one and a half points between
number three and number five.
Projected outcomes. This is
where we report to HUD. This is
the impact portion of what it
what we plan to intend to serve
the community with. So business
impact northwest based off the
100,000. Now this comes into a
lot of the organizations had
requested 150 000. The scoring
committee had chose three that
they wanted to provide 100,000
for. And business Impact
northwest would support 100
micro-enterprises through their
program. Fourth plan forward 30
and then Hispanic Metropolitan
Chamber 46. Now, although these
specific programs did not list
childcare as specifically tied
to it, staying in in tune with
the HUD microenterprise
requirements, we can prioritize
childcare as a portion, so we
make sure that whenever we're
moving forward with these, that
business impact northwest for
plan Forward and Hispanic
Metropolitan Chamber work as a
priority for childcare
establishments. And before I
turn it over to Sam, I do want
to let you know I'm happy to
discuss options that would
include one of the two
childcare providers as a
possible choice. We want to
make sure that all concerns are
met for Council, and I am happy
to discuss that. During the
discussion period.
>> Thank you.
>> So this slide has not
changed. It is.
>> Sam, is your mic on?
>> Thank you. Thank you. This
is a slide from last week as
well. The action plan amendment
hasn't changed. This 70,000
that was canceled last year
will be reallocated in the 2026
funding awards. And so after
tonight, with the feedback that
we receive, we will submit to
HUD, the action plan as well as
the amendment. And like I said
of the timeline previously,
July 1st, the funding should
become available. And that is
our presentation tonight.
>> Okay, so let's go to the
council councilors. Well, first
of all, we I can open the
public hearing, but we heard
from all of those individuals.
So I'll close the public
hearing and we'll bring it back
to council for conversations
and questions. Councilor sober.
>> Thank you. Just minus quick,
what is LMI? Thank you. I
apologize. No acronyms, low to
moderate income. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Councilor Fox.
>> Okay. I appreciate staff
bringing back some very.
Intentional and direct
information on on the economic
development portion of the
decisions, recognizing that we
did have some really strong
applications, especially from
the Hispanic Metropolitan
Chamber. I think I just watched
that whole name. Sorry, but
strong applications, strong
testimony tonight, but focusing
in more on the daycare
businesses. And I did review
the application materials and
the scoring criteria. And it
was a big packet. I was warned.
But the, the things that that
kind of stuck out for me, just,
you know, reviewing it without,
you know, having the benefit of
sitting in on committee
discussions was that the
application materials do show,
I think it was I had written
down the page number somewhere
that the focus of, of council's
awards were on child care and
construction businesses. So
that was very clear to anyone
who was applying to the city.
It also reflected well that I
think it was a slide ten where
you show that the two child
care businesses actually scored
really well with the staff's
first review before it went to
the committee for review. But
what what really concerned me
was reviewing the scores from
the committee, where some of
the detailed comments from the
committee members were
downgrading the two child care
businesses because it actually
said it there, but it was
because they only serve child
care businesses, meaning that
the leanings, perhaps from this
committee was that that these
higher scoring awards should go
to a a company that supports,
you know, many different types
of businesses, perhaps. And so
when you look at that through
that lens and you think that
they were downgraded just
because they're a child care
business and focused on that
alone, I would you know, I
wasn't finding anything else in
the applications that would
have merited the lower score,
at least not from the, the, the
comments from the reviewers or
what we could find in the file.
And I'm also, you know, I'm
glad staff is prepared to kind
of address a potential
modification to include at
least one of the child care
providers, because like I had
written to staff earlier, I
said, I'm not. Although I've
reviewed all of this material,
I don't feel like I'm in a
position to make a funding
decision without having the
benefit of all of those other
conversations that had happened,
and being there for the
presentations that occurred
from all of these organizations.
And I will say, reviewing the
two applications, I would find
it hard to just choose based on
the applications. I mean, one,
the child care se Keesee has a
focus on Chuckie's daycare,
enterprise businesses. And, you
know, and really working with
that community in a deep way.
And then the other organization,
boost really talks about
growing and stabilizing, not
only growing child care
businesses in our community,
but also stabilizing them and
increasing their capacity to
serve more children. And so I
would find it really hard to
choose which one. Recognizing,
though, that a choice would
have to be made given I
wouldn't want to impact the
other awardees in such a way
that they couldn't do the work
that they've been proposing,
proposing. So just sharing
those are my thoughts with the
rest of council.
>> Sam, could you go back to
slide ten? Let's leave that one
up there for just a bit. Thank
you. Okay. Other comments.
>> Mayor.
>> Councilor Soelberg.
>> Thank you, Mayor
Councilmember Stover. So there
was also a memo that the city
manager distributed to council
as part of his Friday
communication. And in that memo
was some evaluation about the
ability of some providers to be
able to respond to requirements
of grant of grants once they
receive those grants. And I am.
Sympathetic to that. But where
that leads me is part of these
grant proposals was capacity
building. And so to the extent
that there's the ability to be
helping some of these
organizations build capacity
around being able to be
responsive if they receive a
grant, I think is would be very
important for us as we we hope
to build out a ecosystem of
programs in our community. So
that is not to answer Council
Member Fox's question, but it
was. It's more to address this,
this. The concerns that were
raised by staff in that memo.
>> So thank you.
>> Councilor Harless.
>> Kim Harless council member.
Yeah, also in favor of
exploring how we can support
one of these child care
businesses or sorry, childcare
organizations to support those
child care businesses. It is
hard to figure that out. So
definitely open to suggestions.
And then another note,
something that I just noticed
in rereading through the
presentation right now, you
made a note about federal
regulations prohibiting
targeting specific demographic
groups and very familiar with
with that, however, I just want
to remind about conversations
we've had a while ago about
making sure that we are still
adhering to our own values and
making sure we're not making
changes that are veering away
from our values as a city
because of those changes at the
federal level, and making sure
that we're. Best preparing
organizations that are applying.
And I was scrolling through on
how they answered that question,
and it looked like most of them
were able to do that. So but I
just wanted to bring that up
that we continue to make sure
we're following our equity
values and also working around
those federal issues when it
comes to targeting populations
that need that stronger
investment.
>> Sam, did we ask any of the
committee members if they had
any conflicts of interest with
any of these organizations that
applied for grants?
>> Yes. This is Sam. We asked
that of every committee member.
They have to check that they do
not have a conflict of interest
before they can score any
application within the system.
>> Okay. Could you go back to
the slide that shows the
quarter of a million for
capacity building from
Southwest Washington community?
There we go. Right there.
Community foundation. As we are
talking about these
organizations, what is the
criteria that community
foundation might have to help
with capacity building? Or
would they be looking at some
of these individual groups?
>> We could talk to them about
that. They currently have five
community based organizations
that they're working with, and
they had planned to do that for
a full five year cohort. And if
there are some of those
organizations that are ready to
graduate from the program, they
could look at adding new ones
in.
>> Let's go ahead and do that,
if you would, and have them
think about partnering with us,
since we're giving them
$255,000. And then as we look
at next year, could you
continue to see if there is any
way to shave off time so that
all of these applications and
the conversation with council
comes earlier, so that we have
those opportunities earlier,
not the week before. Okay. All
right. Thank you so much. Any
other conversation questions?
>> Yes. I would like to hear
staff's alternative proposal.
That's what they said they had
brought forward. For for
consideration about funding one
or at least one of the child
care proposals.
>> Sure. Victor Saldana, small
business entrepreneurship
program Manager. I'll address a
couple of the questions and
I'll go into the
recommendations for staff for
council as well. One was as far
as scoring being limited
because it was one industry.
The committee scores based off
of the 2024 to 2028 HUD
Consolidated plan that council
approved and was sent to HUD
for approval. It wasn't to
lower them because of one. It
also increased them because
they were either child care or
construction trades. Ultimately,
there's two components. One is
the impact within the community
that we are providing. So you
can see some organizations are
supporting 140 635 compared to
8 or 13. So we do have a
requirement for HUD for cost
reasonable concerns when we do
record metrics as well as
reporting to HUD. So just
wanted to address that as well.
As far as Council Member Fox
fully agree, the only concern
that we have is with title six
concerns. We would have to send
an organization that is
specifically focusing on one
demographic group as a as a
legal consideration. So not to
say that we wouldn't move
forward with it, but for that
now going on to as far as
funding opportunities. So
taking your suggestions from
last week into consideration,
coming up with a couple of
options. So one option is to
split funding across four
organizations that would
support broader sectors,
including child care, food
entrepreneurship, as well as
business support and technical
assistance. The impacts that
that would have working with a
lot of these organizations,
reducing awards to 75,000 would
significantly reduce staffing,
outreach, technical assistance,
as well as measurable outcomes.
That's the not only from
staff's view, but also from our
community partners view. And
then it also creates more
contract increases, sorry, more
contracts, increased city
administration and HUD
compliance responsibilities. As
far as another option would be
to choose one child care
provider and replace it with
another organization. So since
we had business Impact
Northwest as a close tie with
upwards and boosts, the
recommendation would be to take
the $100,000 that we were
providing to Business Impact
Northwest, and then
specifically moving it up to
upwards and boost since they
were the highest scoring child
care provider. With this, and
again, for. Consideration,
Upwards and Boost focuses on
stabilizing existing child care
providers through business
support services. They've done
this program in several
jurisdictions. So there's
there's benefits for that. The
also on the con portion would
be the projected income for
sorry, projected impact to
limited to only creating either
four jobs for 100,000 or 3 jobs
for 75,000, as far as what
they're going to provide. And
then also that they only work
with established child care. So
when it wont start any new
child care businesses. But
again, they do increase the
capacity of child care
businesses. And then again, con
to that would be we would be
removing business impact
northwest as far as
consideration. But this also
does provide $100,000 to those
three organizations, making it
more impactful for the program
that we're launching. And then
the con for removing business
impact Northwest would be they
would provide 100 micro
enterprise services to the the
impact as well as specific
outreach programs that they run.
Business Impact northwest runs
the Washington Women's Business
Center, as well as the
Washington Veterans Business
Outreach Center. So they are
have specific programs that
would tie into specific
industries of micro-enterprises
that we usually don't work on.
But I want to make sure that we
gave several options to council
and make sure that we addressed
all their concerns, and we'd be
happy to take any feedback from
that.
>> Councilor silver.
>> Thank you, mayor. So. So
it's an either or so, you know,
upwards and boost. Did I get
that? They have not started
operations in Vancouver yet?
>> You are correct.
>> Okay. That that. Is
significant to me. So thank you.
>> McEnerny Ogle has business
impact. Northwest started
business in Vancouver, yet.
>> They have not. However, they
already have relationships with
Vancouver's farmers market.
Fourth plane forward. And if
you read in actually southwest
Worksource southwest Washington.
But if you also read the
application. Since they are
local in this area and have
employees in this area, they
have actually served a child
care business within the city
of Vancouver. I hope that
answers the question.
>> Councilor Fox.
>> Go ahead.
>> Sure. So what I, what I love
about reviewing all of these
applications is, again, there
were so they were. They all had
very good applications and I, I,
I don't want to. Discount the
work that. That is exactly why
I asked staff to come back with
some alternatives that were
grounded more in your deep
expertise in this area and all
of the conversations that
you've had during this
application period. I am more
inclined to choose to, to fund
boost over business impact
northwest in order to really
highlight council's priorities
around child care, the child
care industry understanding,
it's a very tough decision to
make, but also I lean less into
the other option that you
provided, which is to reduce
the the value of the awards to
everyone. You know, typically
when you take those kind of
cuts, it really impacts the
deliverables that we're going
to receive at the end of the
day. And, and we really do want
the impact of those
organizations to be fully
realized in the grants that
we've in their applications
that they sent to us, but also
in the grants that we provide
to them. It is, you know, I
guess again, another I thought
to throw out there is, you know,
as soon as you finalize these
grant awards, the next
application period pretty much
opens up again. So I, I'd be
willing to take a chance on a
new industry and see, see if we
have some good results in the
city of Vancouver when it comes
to child care, not only from
the Hispanic Metropolitan
Chamber that also testified as
to their business model. That
includes those supports, but
also perhaps boost as well.
>> And we concur. It is very
hard, the volunteers that are
making up the scoring committee
put in countless hours, and it
is a hard decision when we look
through it, and our scoring
committee always tells us if we
had more money, we would like
to include everyone, but we
would also. I would also agree
with you saying that it would
be more impactful going with
three instead of four
organizations.
>> Councilor.
>> Thank you. Mayor. I'm going
to be controversial on the
other end. I am I'm concerned
about peanut butter, meaning
I'm concerned about diluting
funds over too great an area.
And, you know, I'd go the
opposite direction and I would
knock out business impact
Northwest and give all that
money to fourth plane forward
and Hispanic Chamber, who are
established organizations
within the city who are working
with child care providers,
amongst many others. And that
would allow for those
organizations to have a greater
impact. So I think there's an
argument to go the opposite
direction. Given, given that
business Impact Northwest isn't
fully up and operational. I, I
don't know that we're supposed
to do this, but.
>> Careful.
>> Okay, I won't.
>> Well, the question has come
up. There are comments in the
chat and that is not
appropriate. We're in a public
hearing and councilors should
not be reading and commenting
on anything in the chat that's
not open to the entire public.
>> Then I would suggest that
people need to be discontinued
from having access.
>> Yes, we should not.
>> Asera dollar city clerk. If
it happens again, they will be
dismissed from the chat or well,
the meeting.
>> Yeah.
>> We've we've we've closed the
public hearing for comments. So
that is not something that
should be happening. Okay,
councilors, what do you want to
do?
>> I'll make a proposal.
>> Okay. Councilor Fox, go
ahead.
>> And just to say, I haven't
seen any chat talk, so I'm a
little in the dark here, so.
Correct. Okay. All right. I'll
make a motion to approve the.
Well, I don't have the actual
title. And. Okay, one second.
The 2026 Housing and Urban
Development Annual Action Plan,
with one modification, which is
to fund to replace the funding
decision for business Impact
Northwest without a boost.
>> Motion fails for lack of a
second.
>> Should I make another motion.
>> Councilor Stover?
>> I'll move to to split the
funding for business impact
northwest to fourth plane
forward and Hispanic
Metropolitan Chamber.
>> Motion fails for lack of a
second.
>> Move
>> To prove the wards as
presented by staff. Stober.
>> Second motion seconded by
Councilor Hanson. Further
discussion? Council Councilor
Harless.
>> Yeah. In reviewing the. Kim
Harless Council member in
reviewing again and again the
applications. And thank you
again for providing all the
additional materials that we
requested from last time. It
was incredibly helpful having
the full application. So many
pages and also listening to the
comments that Council Member
Stober has made about the
impact of these others that
have already been selected
because of the assistance, they
will already be providing. Some
of those child care providers.
That moves me to support the
slate that's presented before
us. Being able to deep dive
into the concerns that were
presented, and also having this
dialog has been incredibly
helpful to feel like we are
moving in a good direction.
It's always great to be able to
make an informed decision. And
so again, incredibly grateful.
>> Other comments. Councilor
Fox.
>> And the direction that we're
heading tonight, I would hope
that what the mayor brought up
with providing some additional
supports to perhaps better
prepare these other child care
industries for future
application success would be
would be welcomed, at least in
my mind. So I appreciate that.
>> Other comments. Okay. All
those in favor, say aye.
>> I'm sorry.
>> I Fox. I Stover. I Hanson.
Mary McEnerny Ogle.
>> I motion passes. Thank you
very much. All right. That
concludes the business portion.
Let's go into the
communications from the council
councilor Harless.
>> Yeah, I had I wanted to
bring up something that was
brought up during
communications last time by
Council member Hanson, and that
was regarding the closure of
Waterfront Way. Right. That's
what it's called. And I then
saw, you know, we got some
additional comments and
responded to some of those
folks and, you know, continued
to see really good positive
feedback. And then I saw that
we closed it again and it
sounds like we're going to be
doing maybe a pilot of sorts. I
wanted to have a better
understanding of how we're
moving forward so I can better
inform the community as we
continue to get comments about
the successes that we've seen
from creating a pedestrian only
corridor through our downtown
or, sorry, not downtown
waterfront.
>> Okay. City manager. Yeah.
And we had talked about options
on the waterfront to address a
couple of different concerns.
One is to facilitate the safety
of pedestrians coming through
the area, but also to address
some poor driving behavior that
we have observed down there
repeatedly. And so in thinking
about ways to really address
that, we thought that we would
pilot closing the street, along
with some targeted enforcement,
to really see if we could start
to change some of the behaviors
that we have seen down there.
And with the initial closures
that we've tried, we've had to
work through a couple of things.
Primarily one of the issues
being valet parking for the
hotels, but we think we've
landed on a way that we're
going to be able to accommodate
that while still creating,
creating a safer pedestrian
environment. And I believe
Chief Price is on. So if Troy
is out there, I'd like to maybe
have him address what law
enforcement has been doing to
help support these efforts.
>> Absolutely. Good evening,
Council. Troy Price, Vancouver
police chief. We have been made
aware of some issues with, as
the city manager indicated,
with noise issues from vehicles.
Also very unsafe driving
practices. And so we moved
forward with in partnership
with other city departments to
try and address that. Part of
that came by way of a closure
of some of the streets that
allowed for a pedestrian
traffic to, to freely
matriculate past the, the, the,
the businesses that are down
there and enjoy the waterfront.
And we did that being mindful
of how that would affect the
businesses that are there. We
received overwhelming response
from the businesses due to our
enforcement efforts and people
who have been very thankful for
the adjustments we've made down
there. And of course, this is a
work in progress. We're trying
to kind of thread the needle
with the the best solution that
brings the best benefit for
everyone. We did do enforcement
for two weekends in a row,
still compiling numbers for our
for this past weekend, but I
can tell you the most recent,
I'm sorry. Two weekends ago we
had over 77 contacts. We issued
over 30 traffic citations, 35
warnings. And so we will
continue to to go down and help
address the the traffic
problems. I will tell you that
our numbers for the most recent
weekend were reduced, and we
believe that is just because of
the activity, our police
activity and the closures that
occurred from two weekends ago.
So we're seeing some successes.
And we just want to make sure
that they're they're lasting.
And so we'll we'll continue to
keep our finger on the pulse of
what's happening with the
people who live there, the
businesses and those who are
coming to visit our waterfront.
>> Thank you. Chief.
>> I would say that this is
also a good proving ground or a
test bed for us. In
anticipation of the eventual
opening of Main Street, Linse
Main Street is also constructed
as a celebration street to
allow for closures and people
to be able to move back and
forth freely without obstacles
like curbs and parked cars.
>> Kim Harless, Council member.
So is this going to be a
regular thing? Is it going to
be every weekend? What should
people's expectations be?
>> I'm not sure that we have
100% settled on that. Unless
Troy wants to weigh in.
>> Our current plans right now
are to do this through for the
remainder of the summer, up
through the Labor Day weekend,
and just to see how well it
works, I guess we could extend
that if it looks like it's
working well for everyone. So
we're it, it, it, we have an
etch that in stone just yet,
but our current plans are to
get us through that, that last
holiday of the summer.
>> Councilor Hansen, Councilor
Stober.
>> Thank you, mayor, and I
apologize for not speaking
clearly on what I was after
before. So last weekend was a
busy one in downtown. Spruce.
The cove happened for the 16th
year.
>> Yes.
>> It did, and a great turnout.
I changed roles this year and
instead of leaning leading a
cleanup crew, I did cleanup and
I went around Astou Schaadt
Park picking up the empties.
But we had a great group of
people out planning. Encourage
everybody to go take a look at
all the beautiful flowers. Now
out going and in in Essraa
Shorf Park, as well as the
cleanliness of our streets all
the way up to uptown. Second
thing that was happening
concurrently bloom where you're
planted multicultural fair out
at at fourth plane forward at
the forth plane Commons. Excuse
me, fourth plane Commons. That
was a collaboration between
five different organizations
out there. Had some again,
wonderful participation, some
wonderful opportunities for
particularly people with
disabilities come out and
participate. But there were
demonstrations of planting and
how to take advantage of all
the wonderful things that we
have here in the northwest. So
fun things happening. And I
hope there were some mothers
who had a great day yesterday.
>> Thank you.
>> Councilor Fox.
>> Sure. So I I'm going to take
a few minutes to share a
basically an update from the
Children's Justice Center. As
council knows, I. I sit as our
representative, along with
Chief Price, who actually is
the chair of the committee. And
one of the items that you guys
are very much aware of, because
you've given your support for
lobbying efforts last year, and
I'm hoping that we can continue,
is to change the law around
child endangerment, especially
when it involves fentanyl to be
a felony. And I'm going to
highlight a case that came
before us was shared at the
committee. I was told, I can
share all these details. I am
planning as your representative
to talk to Representative
Stoner and any of our other
southwest, Washington or
statewide officials and share
with them this case and share
the photos. In summary, I will
also say that I'm going to list
the names of the officers
because they save the lives of
a three year old. And so I'll
just say that this case
happened, started about a month
ago when there was a child that
was a three year old child
walking around outside on the
street, and some folks came
across the child because, you
know, three year old children
should not just be out walking
by themselves. So that is not
okay. And they returned the
child to the home. Those good
Samaritans found that the
parents were passed out. When
they got to the house, they
found that the the home looked
like it was a hoarder like
conditions. It was very
disgusting inside and they did
call CPS. CPS returned to do a
house check and the parents
wouldn't let them in the home.
About a week later, our
officers executed a search
warrant on the residence, and
when they executed the search
warrants, they detained the
parents. But when they entered
the residence, the child was
sitting on the couch. He was
unresponsive. It was quoting
from Officer Rip. It was one of
the filthiest houses I've been
in in his entire law
enforcement career. Upon
opening the doors, flies came
out and he could smell the odor
of odor of decomposition. The
house was almost unnavigable
due to the filth inside. That's
his quote. The VPD detectives
attempted to wake the child up,
but emergency emergency medical
personnel were dispatched to
the scene and the child was
rushed to Randall Children's
Hospital. The child is still
alive and recovering, thank God.
During the search warrant, the
detectives located numerous
evidence items including
methamphetamine, fentanyl,
fentanyl, marijuana, mushrooms
and other pieces of drug
paraphernalia, including bags,
syringes, scales. All of these
were within reach of that three
year old child. Both parents
admitted to being drug users,
and the mother admitted that
she and the father had smoked
fentanyl and methamphetamine,
the same resident as the child
that that evening. And they
both understood the living
conditions were horrendous. So
I'm just sharing all this
because I think sometimes folks
get wrapped up in, you know,
how we should be criminalizing
drug use or, you know, how we
should proceed in these cases.
But I want to say that what
we're talking about today is
the life of a three year old
and a three year old shouldn't
be living in those conditions.
A three year old shouldn't be
left alone to raise themselves,
for gosh sakes. And so I just
want to uplift our detectives
for saving this child's life.
That's Detective Christian
Strohm, Corporal Gunner
Flansburg, Detective Amelia
Batavia, and Clark County
Sheriff's Officer Detective
Taylor Bolin. And that's all I
have to say tonight.
>> Thank you. Councilor.
Councilor Soelberg. Yes. Astou.
Schaadt. Downtown and uptown.
Thousands, quite literally, of
all of the different flowers
and cleanup and bags and
everything from cigarette butts
to you name it. Cleaned up,
tucked away, thrown away. And
then, yes, the multicultural
festival was the opportunity to
get all new seeds for all new
flowers and your compost bins.
And we got to feed the lion
again for the new year. So
thank you to the Vietnamese
community on that. Parks
Foundation had their event.
Congratulations to a number of
our own staff members who
received awards, and to Marcus
Griffith for the award for
helping clean up downtown and
keep it clean. The Vancouver
Clinic had a groundbreaking out
in their East campus, still in
the city of Vancouver, even
though they called it the.
Campus. Yes, they. They
remember. We did a ribbon
cutting for a loyal legion just
up the street. And thank you to
the Washington Association of
Businesses. They were in town
for their fifth annual state
conference that we're here. And
we had some outstanding
speakers at that particular
conference. It was quite, quite
remarkable. Rahm Emanuel, Larry
Hogan in person. All of them
did a lovely job of helping
everyone understand businesses
in the state of Washington.
City manager, what do you have?
>> Just a quick check with
council to make sure I got
everything from tonight's
meeting. I've identified one
item for follow up, which is to
work with the staff on the
timing of approval for the HUD
action plan to get council more
lead time next year.
>> Great. Anything else,
councilors, that you need the
city manager to follow up on?
No. City attorney.
>> Nothing from legal tonight,
mayor. Thank you.
>> Okay, that closes our
business portion. And we'll now
open it up to the community
forum. This is the opportunity
where we chat with individuals
on any item that was not on our
agenda. We'll turn off CVTV. We
ought to record it, not video
recorded. So go ahead, Miss
Duller. Make that happen